Film’s stars relax at CLC World’s California Beach resort

Aïda Ballmann and Ken Appledorn, lead actors in multi-award winning movie The Extraordinary Tale, screened recently at the Fuengirola Film Festival, were delighted to be staying at San Diego Suites belonging to CLC World’s California Beach brand resorts on the Costa del Sol.

It is the first time that both have taken starring roles, and this year was the first occasion CLC World has been a co-sponsor of the festival – which originally showcased short films but has been extended to include feature-length movies too.

Both actors live in Spain: Ken in Seville, Andalucía, and Aïda in El Hierro in the Canary Islands. And both are best known to Spanish audiences – but that could soon change as the much praised movie, the numerous awards for which have included best actress and best feature at Cardiff Film Festival, is heading for US distribution.

Ken, 33, is originally from Michigan, Detroit, but fell in love with Seville and studied theatre in the city. He has had lesser film roles, most notably The Imposter – 2012 and most recently Nightfall in India -2014, and is currently touring Spanish theatres with Los Morancos, a famous comedy outfit which his partner Jorge Cadaval formed with his brother César.

Aïda, 29, whose German parents live in the Canary Islands where she was born (“They were on their way to Africa looking for paradise, but found it and stayed”), is in 2 very successful Spanish TV series: Águila Roja, playing an English spy, and El Tiempo Entre Costuras as a German Nazi. Variety is the spice of her career so far; for four years she acted, dance and sang at the Spanish theme park Isla Mágica, Seville, where she could also be seen fighting, flying on a wire and falling into water as a Viking!

Ken Appledorn and Aïda Ballmann

While neither is as well acquainted with the Costa del Sol coastal town as with provincial capital Malaga, where The Extraordinary Tale won the Audience Award at the city’s Film Festival in March, they remarked on the relief from the extreme heat of Seville.

“Our apartments are lovely and the climate here is fantastic,” said Ken, who regretted not bringing his swimming shorts once he eyed the feature swimming pool at San Diego Suites. Aïda, on the other hand, is passionate about plant life and was thrilled to see so many tropical plants in the beautifully kept gardens, which reminded her both of the Canary Islands and of her time spent travelling around South America with her twin sister.

Their stay on resort was necessarily short, as busy schedules were tearing them away; Aïda back to filming in Granada for a new movie —‘Deconstruyendo La Luz’ for which she had to get a grasp of astrophysics. Both actors will be off to Los Angeles in July to promote ‘The Extraordinary Tale’ and the pair will also be appearing together once again on screen, as husband and wife, in an upcoming Spanish film.

Without major Spanish TV channel backing, The Extraordinary Tale will not be shown in mainstream Spanish cinemas but released digitally through Netflix and iTunes. However, with the publicity and international success of the movie to date, it has launched two talented actors into the limelight with the prospect of more starring roles and fame in the future.

Fuengirola film festival closes on May 30th 2014. For more information visit www.festivaldefuengirola.es

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